The Single Game

by Amanda Black

  “Thanks, Amy.” I smiled and patted her on the shoulder, happy to have her off on another tangent. “That sounds great, just promise that you’ll take it easier on us.”

  “All right,” she sighed. “I can’t promise not to lose my shit once in a while, but I’ll do my best to reel it in before it gets out of hand.”

  “That’s all I ask.”

  I realized that Logan had been very quiet through our whole exchange, but when I tried to get his attention I noticed he was having trouble looking me in the eye. When he finally did meet my gaze I smiled at him, but the smile he gave me in return was flat and strained.

  “What’s wrong?” I mouthed. His only reply was to shake his head and wave me off like nothing was bothering him, which was obviously bullshit. I shot him another look and arched my eyebrow at him, letting him know that I wasn’t that easily fooled and we would be discussing it later.

  He acted distant all through zoology, the only acknowledgment I got was a hastily scribbled we’ll talk about it later in my notebook.

  “I wish you would just talk to me,” I whispered as we pulled into my driveway after school. “You’re scaring me.”

  “Eden,” he sighed, shoving his hands through his hair. “I feel like a really big asshole right now, and I’m having trouble dealing with it.”

  “I don’t understand. How are you an asshole?”

  “Because!” he snapped, immediately looking apologetic. I could practically see him counting to ten before he spoke again, much more calmly. “I had no idea you felt that way about prom. Here I’ve been excited and happy about taking you out in style and the whole time you’ve been worrying about being able to afford any of it. I thought you were at least having a little fun planning that stuff with Amy, then today I find out that you’ve been feeling left out because you can’t get any of the things she was showing you.”

  “It’s not as bad as you make it sound,” I said, trying to appease him. “I was mostly looking for a reason to tell her that she was being ridiculous with all of her questions. Plus, no teenage girl should be looking at the shit she was showing us, regardless of her budget. I was trying to bring her back down to Earth and remind her that it’s not our Super Sweet 16 party. We can’t all just point and say ‘I’ll have that one.’”

  “But don’t you see? I can do that. That’s why I feel like a dick. I’ve always thought I was better than that, and I could hang out with anyone because money didn’t matter, but it matters a lot to the person who doesn’t have any.”

  “Well, yeah, but it’s not like I’m exactly poor, here. Amy was just being unrealistic. Hey, you’re not some rich snob or anything, Logan. You’ve never looked down your nose at anyone in your life. You were raised better than that.”

  “That doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t even consider how much this might set you back. I just assumed everything would be great and perfect because we were going to prom together.”

  I reached across the car and smoothed back his hair, bringing my hand down under his chin to force him to look at me. “I don’t think that makes you a dick, sweetheart. I think that just makes you a guy.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “All boys do that. They have no idea what it takes for a girl to get ready for prom. Every little thing that has to be bought, all the planning, all the prep work…it’s a giant pain in the ass. Every guy thinks it’s a piece of cake because they can just stroll into a tux shop and point at a rental and they’re good to go.”

  “I don’t think…” He grew quiet as a bright blush spread across his cheeks. “Okay, maybe I assumed it was simpler, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m putting all this hardship on you. It doesn’t feel right.”

  “I’m no worse off than most girls my age. There are parents who spend years dreading all the planning and money this takes.” I leaned closer and kissed him softly, hoping to cheer him up. When I pulled away, I noticed a serious look on his face.

  “Let me pay for your dress,” he whispered.

  “Absolutely not.”

  “But why?” he asked with a childish whine. “I want you to enjoy this, not spend the entire time worrying about paying for it.”

  “Because I don’t want to feel like a charity case when that’s just not true. I’m sure I can find something more realistic now that the fashionista has agreed to back off. Besides, she said that she has a ton of dresses. I might find one of hers that I like.”

  “How is me buying you a dress charity, but her giving you one not?”

  “Because I’d only be borrowing it. I’m not looking for any handouts, thank you very much.”

  “But baby, I really want to do this for you. Can’t it just be a gift? What’s wrong with me giving you a gift?”

  “No. I think you’re very sweet for offering, but that would make me uncomfortable right now. I also think that might make my parents feel awkward.”

  “Why?”

  “Think of it from their point of view. You have the rest of your life to give me presents and provide for me if that’s something you want to do, but right now that’s their job. I think they may get a little bit offended if they found out you paid for my prom dress. I’m also pretty sure my mom has been going crazy waiting for Amy to back off so she can take me shopping herself.”

  “God, I never considered that, either,” he groaned. “I’m such a shit!”

  “No. Like I said, you’re just a guy. Why don’t we go inside?”

  “I suppose,” he grumbled, finally unbuckling his seat belt.

  “Hey, I know something that might cheer you up.”

  “What?” His pout was almost comical, but I did my best not to laugh so I wouldn’t offend him.

  “My mom’s still out of town for a book signing until Sunday and my dad took a flight out this afternoon to surprise her. The house is all mine until tomorrow night.”

  Logan stopped in his tracks halfway to my front door, grabbing his phone without even looking at me. I watched as he hit the speed dial. “Yeah, Mom? I’m gonna stay the night at Devon’s, okay? I don’t know, sometime tomorrow afternoon. Yeah, I’ll be by later to grab some clothes. I’m gonna have dinner with Eden first. Okay, I will. Thanks.” He hung up the phone and looked down at me with a smirk. “Mom says hi.”

  “Do you think she actually bought that?” I asked as I unlocked the front door.

  “Probably not, but you know her. She’d rather believe the lie than worry about calling me on it.”

  “Dad’s starting to feel that way, too,” I laughed, remembering our ill-fated run in.

  Grabbing me around the waist, he leaned down to kiss my neck. “Hey, how about we get an early start on our overnight?”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “I was thinking…it’s been way too long since we had naked pancakes.”

  “We did naked pancakes last week!”

  “Like I said, way too long,” he chuckled.

  I sighed loudly, rolling my eyes at him. “I’ll go mix the batter.”

  Chapter 32

  “Oh my God, that was amazing!” I gasped, falling back onto the blanket that Logan had laid out on the ground.

  “Yeah, you weren’t too bad yourself,” he chuckled, shooting me a wink.

  “I was talking about me,” I deadpanned. “You were okay, I guess.”

  “Okay? Okay?” Logan scoffed. “I made you come multiple times under a beautiful night sky full of stars, in our own private meadow. Not only is that romantic as hell, but that’s talent, baby girl.”

  “I suppose,” I sighed, pretending to be bored with the whole subject. “At least you let me change out of that uncomfortable gown before dragging me out here to the middle of nowhere, so I’ll give you props for that.”

  “Believe me, it wasn’t easy,” he said with a wicked smile. “From the moment I picked you up tonight, all I wanted to do was get under that dress. I fantasized about flipping the skirt up twenty different ways while we
were dancing.”

  “I can sympathize. I felt the same way looking at you in that tux. Most delicious penguin I’ve ever seen.”

  Our prom had gone surprisingly well.

  Amy actually had a dress that I really liked and by some magical intervention, it fit me perfectly. I was a few inches taller than her, which made the already too short dress stop well above my knee, but it was a beautiful midnight-blue silk chiffon material that I knew would look good next to my gorgeous boyfriend’s beautiful gray eyes.

  My dad had tried to act hurt that he didn’t get to buy me a dress, but he changed his tune quickly when I mentioned that the particular dress I was borrowing probably cost over six hundred dollars when Amy got it the previous summer. After that, he simply smiled and forked over some cash for me to buy jewelry and shoes, which my mom insisted on helping me choose.

  We all got ready at Amy’s house, assisting each other with hair and makeup and last minute adjustments. Amy had wanted to book us appointments at a salon in the Quad Cities, but Zoe shot her down immediately. Turns out that I wasn’t the only one who was strapped for cash by the end of our many shopping excursions. Also, it so happened that Zoe loved to style hair. By the time we were all done, we looked like we had shelled out a ton of money for a professional stylist.

  Amy’s mother had special ordered her a dress from some New York designer. It was lavender taffeta and crinkled like money when she walked, which I thought was more than appropriate considering the outlandish cost. She looked like a movie star and was absolutely glowing, however, so I’m willing to bet that her parents thought it was worth it.

  Zoe, on the other hand, didn’t spend a fraction of that cost on her own dress, yet still managed to look like a Grecian sex goddess. She was all curves and legs and sensuality in floor-length emerald-green satin, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who would be crowned prom queen. I could tell that she had even styled her long blonde hair so that it was “tiara friendly,” but she would never admit that to anyone in a million years.

  Our dates picked us up at the same time, even though we were all riding separately, so Mrs. Andrews could get a ton of group pictures of us looking fancy before we left for the night. We had talked about getting a limo and riding together, but since we all wanted our own private date time before we got to the dance, we voted to drive ourselves. Devon’s father even loaned him his Mercedes for the night, which was a really big deal considering their overprotective nature.

  Logan was so stunning in his tuxedo that he took my breath away, and when he presented me with a wrist corsage with one single pale pink-and-white orchid, I had to wipe a few tears from my eyes. It was one of the loveliest things I’d ever seen, and I was touched that he’d put so much thought into our evening.

  We waved our good-byes and took off toward the Quad Cities for dinner, making a brief stop at my house on our way out of town so that our parents could see us all spiffed up. Logan’s parents had come over to save us an extra trip, which meant that the four of them all took turns getting pictures with us and we had a mini-photoshoot. After that, my parents took turns hugging me so tightly that I couldn’t breathe.

  “What gives?” I asked my dad when it was his turn. “You’re so emotional tonight.”

  “I can’t help it, honey,” he answered slowly, sounding a little choked up. “You’re just so grown up now. I’m losing my little girl.”

  “Jeez, it’s only prom, Dad.” I rolled my eyes at his silliness, but inside I was secretly getting weepy.

  He shot Logan a funny look before clearing his throat uncomfortably. “Uh…I know. You gotta give your old man a little break once in a while, though. This is a lot to take in.”

  “Once again, it’s just me in a pretty dress and some makeup. I know it doesn’t happen often, but you don’t have to act like it’s the end of the world.”

  I gave him another hug before we left, chuckling to myself at his awkward behavior. I noticed that Logan shook his hand a little longer than normal as I walked to the car, their heads bent together in discussion.

  “What was all that about?” I asked when he finally joined me in the car.

  “I was just promising him that I plan on taking very good care of you.”

  “Ooh, is that so?” I purred, leaning over to nip at his earlobe. “I know a way you could take care of me right now.”

  “Eden, behave,” he growled, shooting me a heated glance. “It’s already taking everything I have to keep from pulling over somewhere and ravishing you. You look so beautiful I can hardly stand it.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “The problem is that we have dinner reservations in less than an hour, and we need to get going, baby. I want to make this night special.”

  “Oh, all right, Mr. Sensible,” I huffed, crossing my arms with a fake pout. I’d only been half serious, anyway. There was no way I was about to mess up my hair or makeup—Zoe would skin me alive.

  I expected that we would eat at a casual place, but I was pleasantly surprised when Logan took me to an elegant French restaurant in Rock Island called Le Figaro, where I had the most luscious meal I’d ever eaten. I found myself wanting to sneak into the kitchen and beg them to tell me how they made the Chateaubriand melt in my mouth, but I figured that it might be a bit offtrack for our romantic evening together.

  Maybe next time, because I was definitely eating there again.

  When we made it to the hotel that was hosting our dance, prom was already in full swing. Owen was parading Amy around on his arm like the perfect gentleman, stopping to talk at nearly every table so he could show off his beautiful date. Devon and Zoe requested every sexually suggestive song they knew and spent almost an hour grinding and slithering together on the dance floor. It would have been gross if they hadn’t looked so damn good doing it.

  Logan was the perfect date, as if I’d ever expected otherwise. He was sweet and attentive, excited to get out and dance with me, but also totally fine with just sitting and talking for a while. He clearly didn’t feel the need to be “on” all night, like Devon and Owen obviously did; he seemed perfectly content with just having me near him. There were a few moments when he seemed preoccupied and nervous about something, but whenever I asked about it he would simply smile and kiss me, making me forget my question.

  When the dance was over we made our way back to Amy’s house to change out of our formal outfits and grab our overnight bags. Devon’s parents had authorized a post-prom party for all of us, but rather than inviting the whole damn class like he usually did, he kept it to the six of us. We all planned on taking advantage of the fact that his parents slept like the dead. We watched movies and played some music for a while, and when the coast was clear Logan brought me my jacket and escorted me out the side of the house for a silent getaway.

  Which brought us to our meadow.

  We had returned a few times since Logan’s infamous deflowering, and it always held a special place in our hearts. It was even better since the weather had turned warmer, and we couldn’t have asked for a better night for our outdoor shenanigans. I worried it would start pouring rain on us the second we stepped out of the car, but so far we had been lucky.

  “You look so beautiful like that,” he whispered in the darkness. “Like a woodland fairy…or a nymph. Yes, I like that better. My little nymph.” I was completely naked except for my wrist corsage, which I couldn’t bear to part with although I had changed out of my dress hours earlier. I also couldn’t bring myself to wash off my makeup or take my hair down yet, which a sane person might say was proof positive that I had actually liked dressing up.

  “Well, if I’m your nymph, does that make you my satyr?” I teased.

  “Mmm, yes, definitely,” he smirked. “Why don’t you come play my flute?”

  “That’s not a flute,” I laughed as he pulled my hand toward his reawakened groin.

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “I bet if you put your lips on it, it would make beautiful music.�
��

  “That’s not music, baby. That’s just you moaning.”

  “Oh. Well, damn. It was worth a shot.”

  We cuddled together for a while, laughing and kissing as if we were the only two people left in the world. Looking up at the vast sky above us, it was easy to imagine.

  I had almost drifted off to sleep in his arms when I felt Logan shaking me lightly. “Eden…baby, wake up.”

  “Do we need to leave already?” I mumbled against his warm chest before yawning loudly. “I thought we had most of the night.”

  “No, that’s not it. I need to talk to you about something.”

  “Okay.”

  “Here, let’s sit up.” He gave me his hand and helped me sit up to face him. It was then that I finally noticed the panicked look on his face.

  “Should I be worried, Logan? Is this something bad?”

  “No, it’s good.” He gulped loudly. “At least, I hope it’s good. I’ve wanted to talk to you about this all night, but it never felt like the right time. Now I think I’ve just been putting it off out of nerves.”

  “So talk.”

  “Okay…” he paused to take a deep breath. “You know I love you. More than anything else in the world, right? You honestly believe that?”

  “Yes,” I answered with no hesitation. “I feel the exact same about you. Why?”

  “I just want to make sure you keep that in mind.” He smiled nervously and took my hands in his. “Now, I know I’m young. We both are. I also know that every single person in the world is going to tell us that the odds are stacked against us and we have our whole lives ahead of us. I know that you’re my first serious girlfriend and we haven’t even been together for a full year. I know every reason that anyone could ever throw at us to wait, but it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference when I think about what I want.”